HVCA and the seven employers who want to implement this new draconian BESNA agreement should be investigated by the OFT for being a cartel, which is illegal.

Employers will own and run the BESNA skill card and grading structure, undermining the existing respected and independent procedures of the Joint Industry Boards. Those behind BESNA are the same firms found responsible for the illegal blacklisting of workers and trade unionists. Would you trust these people to grade you and share your information?

"A nation of well-informed men, who have been taught to know and prize the rights that God has given them cannot be enslaved. It is in the region of ignorance that tyranny begins!" Benjamin Franklin

As far as I can tell, the main reason for the BESNA is to save money on labour costs as this is the only expense that companies can control. They see 75% of the work currently undertaken by their highly trained employees as semi-skilled and they do not like the fact that they have to pay the same hourly rate for every task.

The new contract makes it flexible for the contractors to raise and lower employees pay, depending on which tasks they have been assigned. In worse case scenarios this can result in an hourly wage cut of 35%.

Here are a few of the main points in the contract that particularly concern myself and my colleagues:

grading of tradesmen currently carried out by the bodies mentioned above - the new contract puts all grading in the hands of the employer so they can raise and lower your hourly rate at any time
travel pay - this will be dramatically cut and will also be paid at the employer's discretion
overtime rates - weekend overtime rates have been dramatically cut and even receiving them is up the employer s discretion.
merging of electrical and mechanical trades - they propose to remove electricians and plumbers from the equation totally, replacing them with building services engineers (whatever that is!)
unfair dismissal - we are currently able to claim unfair dismissal from our first day. That term has been removed.
redundancy rules - these have been changed. Currently, employers are not allowed to make redundancies whilst they have agency/temporary workers engaged on their projects. This term has been removed, so no protection is given at all for employees
apprenticeships - there will be no more electrical and plumbing apprenticeships offered by these companies as they want to build a work force of multi-skilled workers, trained in a little bit of everything but specialising in nothing.
I could go on and on: the old agreement is more than 250 pages long. BESNA is only 48 pages, which in itself is a sign that people are going to be losing a lot. Every single term in BESNA gives all the power to the employer. They get final say on everything. Nothing is set in stone.

And that is why we're angry and why we'll keep fighting until we win this campaign.

A fuss about nothing. These large m&m contractors are not out to downgrade electricians. Removing themselves from the JIB and ECA and joining the HVCA will save on wasteful subscriptions. Unite need to accept that the recent protests are purely to misinform electricians into believing they are being deskilled when, in reality, they are just concerned that the reduction in members will result in them not enjoying the lifestyle that they have become accustomed to living off the back of the people they are suppose to represent.

How can the statement I have just read claim that my wages won't be affected? As a JIB-approved electrician, my current rate of pay is £14.35 per hr across the board, ie, installing containment, wiring or terminating. Now, the new BESNA agreement says that I will be earning £10.50 for containment, £12 for wiring and £14 for terminating. So can you please tell me how then how my wages won't be affected? And, by the way, containment makes up around 60-70% of my work. This is a wage cut of around 30%. I won't hold my breath waiting for a reply!